Heat exchangers having tubes and ribs forming a core, in which a first medium (e.g., coolant) flows through the tubes and a second medium (e.g., environmental air) passes over the ribs for heat exchange between the two media are well known. Also well known are the use of collecting tanks with such cores, where the collecting tanks are secured to the ends of the tubes to distribute medium flow to the tubes (at the inlet end) and collect medium from the tubes (at the outlet end).
Such heat exchangers have been subjected to a variety of design alternatives intended to address a variety of concerns and issues. For example, minimizing materials is a desirable goal in the manufacture of most heat exchangers (e.g., to minimize costs), and is particularly so with vehicular heat exchangers where component weight is an important consideration. As another example, EP 1 273 864 A2 discloses a heat exchanger in which an intermediate plate is provided so that a heat exchanger with cooling grates of different depths may be made at a relatively low modification cost. However, it has been found that, in such structures, the reduction in materials (and related reduction in sheet thickness) can result in a heat exchanger in which the connection and holding forces may not be sufficient to withstand the increasing pressures and other loads to which the heat exchanger may be subjected.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.